Chevalier Plays AGEOD Let's Play/AAR

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

This Let's Play is far superior to anything I could write.  Especially the narrative of the battle of Prague that gives some perspective to a period I don't study much.  Is Rise of Prussia better than what the mediocre Internet reviews suggest?

I would say it is, but you have to know what you're getting into. It's very much a "get your feet wet" kind of game - the manual and tutorials explain how everything work, but don't tell you WHAT you should be doing any given turn, or how to think about your strategy, etc. It tells you how to play the game as in "here's how to move the chess pieces" but not "here are common chess opening strategies, midgame tactics, endgame scenarios," etc. Marry that to the clunky and unintuitive interface, which is mostly dragging and dropping cards on a map, and it's a steep learning curve. But once you've worked out how everything is operating, you've peeked under the hood to see how the game is calculating supply, resolving battles, etc, then there's really nothing else like it on the market.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

• December 1756: Exploitation
  Situation at the start of December, 1756, following Second Prague:Browne's has been largely driven back over the Elbe, with Browne and Kollowrat's corps in particular badly mauled. Lucchese has fallen back to the fortified camp to the east, while Piccolomini is mostly unscathed north of the Elbe and west of Koniggratz. Schwerin is easy to command. Now that he is close enough to operate in conjunction with Frederick, I fold his independent army into Frederick's and designate him a corps commander. He will march to Kolin, seize Austria's traditional training camp there, and seal off attempts by Browne to cross the river south. But what to do with Frederick's army? For example, Keith is ravaged by illness and his corps is largely combat ineffective:Here's how to parse the above screenshot. Look at Keith's army, at bottom. Notice that each unit card has a purple bar and a green bar on their right. These bars represent a unit's cohesion and its health, respectively. I'll show you in more detail:Here I've highlighted Itzenplitz's brigade. You can see that its strength (green bar) is very nearly full. Only one of his 16 companies has suffered losses - A Company, 3rd Battalion, is down to 102 men out of its authorized strength of 170. As long as an element (a company, typically) isn't destroyed entirely it will receive a trickle of replacements (uh, if I had any. My training depots back home are empty after the bloody battle of Prague and it'll be a few months before I can get more men up). If an element is destroyed, it can only be replaced if the brigade is resting at a depot. Now, Itzenplitz has only lost a handful of men out of his total brigade strength of nearly 3,000 men, but his Power rating is very low - a mere 59. Why? The answer to that is the purple bar: his cohesion. Cohesion is vital in a military force. It keeps the men marching together, fighting together. It represents their discipline in keeping watch, digging sanitary latrines, digging their defenses properly. Typically, in AGEOD battles a unit's cohesion will deplete first in battle and send the men fleeing from the field. An army without cohesion is a beaten force (picture Russia at the battle of Kharkov this last fall, or the Iraqi army during Desert Storm). So, we need to let it recover. Cohesion is reduced by marching, fighting, and in some cases by event, as Keith has been. His men are puking their guts out, lying in sick bay, etc. They're not dead, but forcing them into ranks and trying to fight a battle would probably go poorly. Here's another example:Seydlitz's cavalry brigade was hotly involved in the battle of Prague, losing nearly a third of their strength. They're down to 24 out of a total possible 102 cohesion (obviously elite formations like grenadiers and guards have higher cohesion than militia or raw conscripts). Also note that it's "improving by 2.04 a day." Generally, each day spent at rest will let your units recover 2% of their cohesion. Each turn is 15 days, so in general a unit at rest will regain 30% of its cohesion, or 60% over the course of a month. That's pretty slow, but if we place them into a structure - a city, a fortified camp, a fortress - that rate will double to 4% a day. So, I order Keith's men to take up cozy residence in the city, courtesy of the good citizens of Prague, and let them recover. In order to maintain security and not let a surprise Austrian assault pen us up in the city, I leave Moritz outside. We'll swap their positions after a few weeks:Moritz and Keith are in dire need of some R&R. Moritz was badly battered at the bloody battle of Prague. The resulting orders appear thus:Our orders:

  • Ferdinand's corps, under Frederick's command, to march east and capture Lucchese's camp.
    
  • Keith and Moritz to defend Prague and be ready to support Ferdinand.
    
  • Schwerin to march west and capture Kolin.
    
  • The entire army of the Elbe is to hold the line of the river and prevent Browne's escape.
    
  • Cavalry Corps to fall back to Bautzen for resupply.
    
• There's a few other minutia - for example, the captured Saxons from Pirna are now beginning to reform as Prussian conscripts, and I am shuffling them into Saxony to form a defense against Austrian incursions in that area. But those are the main highlights.The results:On December 4th, 8 days after Second Prague, a battle breaks out between Lucchese's remnants east of the city and Frederick's advancing army. Note that Keith and Moritz march to Frederick's support even though they remain at Prague - corps in this game will march to the sound of the guns if a formation in the same army gets into trouble. Lucchese's men are just as tired as Keith and Moritz's veterans and they don't hold long against Ferdinand's fresh troops. Soon, Lucchese disengages and begins to pull his men back - but against the advice of his brigadiers, the Italian general retreats not south, towards Vienna, but instead decides that he will be safer at the traditional camp at Kolin and leads his men east. Note the high number of lost elements relative to the small number of casualties - Lucchese's formations are brittle and on the brink of shattering. Lucchese's tired corps, having suffered appalling casualties and marched for weeks in the winter weather, stagger into the camp at Kolin. However, they are dismayed to discover Schwerin's fresh corps marching hard towards them from the east. By the 11th, Schwerin has his unblooded troops in line and storming the camp at Kolin. Lucchese's army is on the brink of shattering and offers virtually no resistance. They attempt to flee back to the west:Staggering losses in elements for a relatively low number of men lost. However, already debouching onto the plain near Kolin is Frederick, leading Ferdinand's corps onto the field. After a running battle over a week, with no places left to run, at dawn on December 12 Lucchese orders his men to lay down their arms. The entire corps is effectively destroyed:In total, across 8 days of battle, the Prussians suffered a further 2600 casualties, but bag 9,000 Austrians and remove many brigades entirely from the Austrian order of battle. Austrians have a huge manpower reserve, but losing the formations will seriously hamper their attempts to rebuild. Instead of flooding in replacements to existing cadres, they'll have to rebuild from the ground up. Let's take a moment to discuss leader stats. In addition to his advantage in men and organization, Frederick is just a much better commander than Lucchese:Every commander has three stats. They are, in order:
  • Strategy - Represents his strategic and operation acumen. Mostly governs how often he's active vs. inactive.
    
  • Attack - Represents his skill on the offensive. Governs battles when he's in offensive and assault stance.
    
  • Defense - Represents his skill on the defensive. Governs battles when he is in a defensive or passive stance.
    
• The numbers can range from 0 to 6, with 3 being about average. Lucchese, with 3-2-2 stats, is perfectly mediocre (honestly, he's one of the better Austrian commanders at game start). Strategy rating affects the die roll to be active, with huge penalties to movement and combat strength if inactive. The other two skills make units more effective on the battlefield, with the relevant stat applying depending on the stance of the leader. So, Frederick is a brilliant strategist, a talented attacker, and middling defender. Other men like Daun for the Austrians are defensive experts but poor on the attack. Generally, an army commander like Frederick will pass a bonus (or a penalty) on to his individual corps commanders' stats. An individual fighting unit will benefit from its brigadier's stats, if any, and from its corps commander - 5% boost to firepower for each point from the corps, and 3% from the brigadier. So, a brigade commanded by a modest skill 3 brigadier led by a modest skill 3 corps commander will get 15%+9% = 24% boost to its stats against an unled unit, a pretty hefty edge (I'm not sure if the bonus is multiplicative instead of additive, in which case it would be 1.15 x 1.09 = 1.2535, 25.35% boost). Frederick boosts his army by a full 20% on the attack, on top of excellent corps commanders like Keith (who rates 6s and 5s himself!). So the Prussian edge in leadership over Austria is one of our key advantages early on. There is one final stat: Seniority. Generals all have a unique placement on the army list, with more senior generals holding command and demanding promotion ahead of lower ranked ones. So, you can't just find your most brilliant brigadier and promote him to command of the whole army - he has to earn his way to the top. If you jump him too far ahead of his seniors, they will protest and upset the chain of command (represented as losing national morale and victory points - sometimes worth it!). Winning battles moves you up the chain of seniority and makes promotion easier, losing them demotes you. Clear enough? So, the situation on December 15, 3 days after Lucchese's destruction:We hold the line of the Elbe entire on the south. To the north, Browne has united his and Kollowrat's corps with Piccolomini's to form one massive combined force, totaling 1700 power in a single column! Close inspection shows how low the power of individual brigades is, however - this is a brittle army, on the brink of collapse. Also visible at bottom are notifications from our spies in Vienna, that the Austrians are organizing fresh armies from their Hungarian holdings. I don't think those will equal in force Browne's army at the start of the campaign, but they will be better commanded, and if given time to fully organize (and they'll get that time over the winter) will be a considerable obstacle. Our military control map shows that Browne is now entirely cut off from the south:And in turn the supply network is solid for us in two directions, while Browne is isolated:We have a good stock at Prague and Lobositz is also starting to build up some reserves, where Wilhelm is still happily building his fortified camp to protect the depot. I am raising garrison regiments at home to take over the duties at Lobositz, Prague, and Koniggratz, which will free about 3 brigades, 9,000 men, to reinforce our main army for the push south. Now, one issue that I do have is that Katte's cavalry corps has gotten hung up at the fortified camp at Turnau. It's rare for infantry to block movement of cavalry like this, but it can happen. I am growing worried because his supplies are low and winter is here. I need to get the horsemen out and into winter quarters - cavalry like this is precious and needs to be conserved for the balance of the war. So, we're going to attempt a special maneuver here. On the army panel, you have a variety of special orders you can give (related to movement/fighting, to command and organization, and to construction and logistics). I used some of those earlier building the depot and fort at Lobositz, and I used others manipulating Schwerin's army into a component corps of Frederick's army. Now we'll look at the movement and fighting ones:Starting at the top right and proceeding left to right, top to bottom, we have:
  • Enter structure at the end of your move (to go into quarters in a town or fort)
    
  • Split units (to reform and reorganize brigades)
    
  • Force march (used for extra speed at great cost to cohesion as men straggle and drop out - never use this before battle!)
    
  • Sync march (used for corps in the same army to march together - don't want someone to arrive early to the battle and get clobbered without support)
    
  • Combine units (to form brigades, generally)
    
  • Evade combat (cavalry and irregulars can attempt to slip past enemy units and not provoke a battle)
    
• I've ticked evade combat and ordered Katte to try and ride past Browne's force to Prague, whence he can reach Lobositz for winter quarters. Checking in on Saxony, where we have that lone Austrian brigade roaming around, they abandoned their siege of Leipzig and marched north. I don't know what they plan next:Zeiten's hussars have cut the roads leading over the passes to the south, so these men aren't getting supply. They may be small enough to live off the land? I'm not sure. Anyway, most the cities here are walled and have solid garrisons, so they shouldn't be able to do too much damage. We'll see what happens over winter, in the spring I may be able to combine some garrison units into a small division to clear 'em out. Late December orders:
  • The Army of the Elbe to march to Prague to hold the line of the river and bar Browne's escape south. (Checking reveals that it is difficult for Browne to cross the river anywhere other than Prague and Koniggratz, and I'm worried about weather exposure away from town).
    
  • Cavalry corps to attempt to withdraw to the left bank of the Elbe and reach Lobositz for winter quarters.
    
• Resolution is quiet, as Browne marches north to the camp at Turnau, which shouldn't be drawing supply, I think. We lose most of our intelligence on his army:Our army is snug and safe for the winter in Prague. I think the autumn Bohemian campaign has come to an end at this point. Okay, so, let's look ahead. First, as promised, what can we do to win this damned war? Rise of Prussia gives us a victory screen:There are three ways to win the game.
  • First, in the red box, is sudden death via National Morale. You lose national morale for losing big battles and key cities, as your people become disillusioned with the conflict and lose fighting spirit. If national morale hits 0, that side surrenders. But national morale naturally regresses towards 100 every turn (you gain a few points or lose a few points each turn), so reaching 0 is extremely difficult. The fall of Prague and the destruction of Lucchese's corps have reduced Austria to 87 morale, while ours after the successful autumn campaign is sky-high at 135. This gives us important benefits to cohesion, meaning we fight harder and recover faster than the Austrians at the moment. Again, think Ukraine vs. Russia right now.
    
  • In the orange box are our objective cities. This list will change as the war progresses and participants come and go, but if at any point we control every city on this list, the coalition will sue for peace. Right now we have captured Dresden and Prague since game start, and Hanover/Kassel are neutral but will join us soon. The Austrian cities of Olmutz and Brunn in Moravia and Vienna itself remain to be captured. If we can take them rapidly enough the coalition will break.
    
  • Finally, in the green are victory points. At the end of the game in 1764, if we control at least 10 of the 20 cities on the right, and have more victory points than the Austrians, we will be able to negotiate a favorable peace. Otherwise, the war is a draw (or if Austria meets their objectives, a loss!). Each one of these strategic towns generates victory points every turn, which we can spend on decisions like drafting or requisitions, or hoard for the end of the game.
    
• So, national morale is supremely difficult to achieve, and waiting until 1764 is a last resort. So the nearest victory objective in each is to capture the cities of Olmutz, Brunn, and Vienna. Here's a look at the land south of Prague, for the first time:Prague and Koniggratz are the only real fortresses between us and Vienna. South here, there's a few unfortified towns like Tabor, Budweis, and Krems, but no major forts to overcome - we can storm the towns as quickly as we can march to them. Then we'd need to cross the Danube and successfully besiege Vienna, while covering our supply lines back all the way to Prussia. It's a tall order but possible. We also need to send an army into Moravia to secure Brunn and Olmutz to break Austrian will to resist, and while we're at it we may as well secure Troppau, the gateway to Silesia, to cover that invasion route and add an extra line of supply to our thrust at Vienna. Roughly, here are our options for advance south:
  • An advance from Silesia (I, uh, have no field forces there at the moment) or from Koniggratz towards Troppau and Olmutz, moving from there to Brunn. Lots of fortresses to overcome, so this force would likely be allocated most of my heavy artillery and engineers. I may even be able to raise fresh engineer battalions before spring.
    
  • A central advance through Iglau towards Vienna. There are some forests to overcome, and a river to be forced, but it is the shortest and most direct route.
    
  • A western route to Tabor and Budweis before pushing southeast. More open terrain, slightly longer.
    
• We have most of January, February, and possibly march to debate, decide, and prepare. Since Browne's army is in dire straits, we may only face 1-2 corps of Hungarians come spring. Austria will be raising massive new formations but it will take time, and those raw levies won't be able to stand up to veteran grenadiers. But reaching Vienna is a long way, and we aren't getting any major reinforcements - the 4 corps of Keith, Moritz, Ferdinand, and Schwerin are who we've got. As our supply lines lengthen, we might be able to call upon only 2 once we reach the gates of Vienna, if we get so far. However, we have other means of victory. Mauling the Austrian army and securing enough strategic depth will largely neutralize Austria from the war, leaving us free to throw our army against the French or Russians if they decide to get involved. [spoiler]They will.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

December 1756: Exploitation

Situation at the start of December, 1756, following Second Prague:


Browne's has been largely driven back over the Elbe, with Browne and Kollowrat's corps in particular badly mauled. Lucchese has fallen back to the fortified camp to the east, while Piccolomini is mostly unscathed north of the Elbe and west of Koniggratz.

Schwerin is easy to command. Now that he is close enough to operate in conjunction with Frederick, I fold his independent army into Frederick's and designate him a corps commander. He will march to Kolin, seize Austria's traditional training camp there, and seal off attempts by Browne to cross the river south. But what to do with Frederick's army? For example, Keith is ravaged by illness and his corps is largely combat ineffective:



Here's how to parse the above screenshot. Look at Keith's army, at bottom. Notice that each unit card has a purple bar and a green bar on their right. These bars represent a unit's cohesion and its health, respectively. I'll show you in more detail:


Here I've highlighted Itzenplitz's brigade. You can see that its strength (green bar) is very nearly full. Only one of his 16 companies has suffered losses - A Company, 3rd Battalion, is down to 102 men out of its authorized strength of 170. As long as an element (a company, typically) isn't destroyed entirely it will receive a trickle of replacements (uh, if I had any. My training depots back home are empty after the bloody battle of Prague and it'll be a few months before I can get more men up). If an element is destroyed, it can only be replaced if the brigade is resting at a depot.

Now, Itzenplitz has only lost a handful of men out of his total brigade strength of nearly 3,000 men, but his Power rating is very low - a mere 59. Why? The answer to that is the purple bar: his cohesion.

Cohesion is vital in a military force. It keeps the men marching together, fighting together. It represents their discipline in keeping watch, digging sanitary latrines, digging their defenses properly. Typically, in AGEOD battles a unit's cohesion will deplete first in battle and send the men fleeing from the field. An army without cohesion is a beaten force (picture Russia at the battle of Kharkov this last fall, or the Iraqi army during Desert Storm). So, we need to let it recover.

Cohesion is reduced by marching, fighting, and in some cases by event, as Keith has been. His men are puking their guts out, lying in sick bay, etc. They're not dead, but forcing them into ranks and trying to fight a battle would probably go poorly.

Here's another example:

Seydlitz's cavalry brigade was hotly involved in the battle of Prague, losing nearly a third of their strength. They're down to 24 out of a total possible 102 cohesion (obviously elite formations like grenadiers and guards have higher cohesion than militia or raw conscripts). Also note that it's "improving by 2.04 a day." Generally, each day spent at rest will let your units recover 2% of their cohesion. Each turn is 15 days, so in general a unit at rest will regain 30% of its cohesion, or 60% over the course of a month. That's pretty slow, but if we place them into a structure - a city, a fortified camp, a fortress - that rate will double to 4% a day. So, I order Keith's men to take up cozy residence in the city, courtesy of the good citizens of Prague, and let them recover. In order to maintain security and not let a surprise Austrian assault pen us up in the city, I leave Moritz outside. We'll swap their positions after a few weeks:


Moritz and Keith are in dire need of some R&R. Moritz was badly battered at the bloody battle of Prague.

The resulting orders appear thus:


Our orders:

• Ferdinand's corps, under Frederick's command, to march east and capture Lucchese's camp.
  
• Keith and Moritz to defend Prague and be ready to support Ferdinand.
  
• Schwerin to march west and capture Kolin.
  
• The entire army of the Elbe is to hold the line of the river and prevent Browne's escape.
  
• Cavalry Corps to fall back to Bautzen for resupply.
  

There's a few other minutia - for example, the captured Saxons from Pirna are now beginning to reform as Prussian conscripts, and I am shuffling them into Saxony to form a defense against Austrian incursions in that area. But those are the main highlights.

The results:


On December 4th, 8 days after Second Prague, a battle breaks out between Lucchese's remnants east of the city and Frederick's advancing army. Note that Keith and Moritz march to Frederick's support even though they remain at Prague - corps in this game will march to the sound of the guns if a formation in the same army gets into trouble.

Lucchese's men are just as tired as Keith and Moritz's veterans and they don't hold long against Ferdinand's fresh troops. Soon, Lucchese disengages and begins to pull his men back - but against the advice of his brigadiers, the Italian general retreats not south, towards Vienna, but instead decides that he will be safer at the traditional camp at Kolin and leads his men east.


Note the high number of lost elements relative to the small number of casualties - Lucchese's formations are brittle and on the brink of shattering.

Lucchese's tired corps, having suffered appalling casualties and marched for weeks in the winter weather, stagger into the camp at Kolin. However, they are dismayed to discover Schwerin's fresh corps marching hard towards them from the east. By the 11th, Schwerin has his unblooded troops in line and storming the camp at Kolin. Lucchese's army is on the brink of shattering and offers virtually no resistance. They attempt to flee back to the west:


Staggering losses in elements for a relatively low number of men lost.

However, already debouching onto the plain near Kolin is Frederick, leading Ferdinand's corps onto the field. After a running battle over a week, with no places left to run, at dawn on December 12 Lucchese orders his men to lay down their arms. The entire corps is effectively destroyed:



In total, across 8 days of battle, the Prussians suffered a further 2600 casualties, but bag 9,000 Austrians and remove many brigades entirely from the Austrian order of battle.

Austrians have a huge manpower reserve, but losing the formations will seriously hamper their attempts to rebuild. Instead of flooding in replacements to existing cadres, they'll have to rebuild from the ground up.

Let's take a moment to discuss leader stats. In addition to his advantage in men and organization, Frederick is just a much better commander than Lucchese:


Every commander has three stats. They are, in order:

• Strategy - Represents his strategic and operation acumen. Mostly governs how often he's active vs. inactive.
  
• Attack - Represents his skill on the offensive. Governs battles when he's in offensive and assault stance.
  
• Defense - Represents his skill on the defensive. Governs battles when he is in a defensive or passive stance.
  

The numbers can range from 0 to 6, with 3 being about average. Lucchese, with 3-2-2 stats, is perfectly mediocre (honestly, he's one of the better Austrian commanders at game start). Strategy rating affects the die roll to be active, with huge penalties to movement and combat strength if inactive. The other two skills make units more effective on the battlefield, with the relevant stat applying depending on the stance of the leader. So, Frederick is a brilliant strategist, a talented attacker, and middling defender. Other men like Daun for the Austrians are defensive experts but poor on the attack.

Generally, an army commander like Frederick will pass a bonus (or a penalty) on to his individual corps commanders' stats. An individual fighting unit will benefit from its brigadier's stats, if any, and from its corps commander - 5% boost to firepower for each point from the corps, and 3% from the brigadier. So, a brigade commanded by a modest skill 3 brigadier led by a modest skill 3 corps commander will get 15%+9% = 24% boost to its stats against an unled unit, a pretty hefty edge (I'm not sure if the bonus is multiplicative instead of additive, in which case it would be 1.15 x 1.09 = 1.2535, 25.35% boost). Frederick boosts his army by a full 20% on the attack, on top of excellent corps commanders like Keith (who rates 6s and 5s himself!). So the Prussian edge in leadership over Austria is one of our key advantages early on.

There is one final stat: Seniority. Generals all have a unique placement on the army list, with more senior generals holding command and demanding promotion ahead of lower ranked ones. So, you can't just find your most brilliant brigadier and promote him to command of the whole army - he has to earn his way to the top. If you jump him too far ahead of his seniors, they will protest and upset the chain of command (represented as losing national morale and victory points - sometimes worth it!). Winning battles moves you up the chain of seniority and makes promotion easier, losing them demotes you. Clear enough?

So, the situation on December 15, 3 days after Lucchese's destruction:


We hold the line of the Elbe entire on the south. To the north, Browne has united his and Kollowrat's corps with Piccolomini's to form one massive combined force, totaling 1700 power in a single column! Close inspection shows how low the power of individual brigades is, however - this is a brittle army, on the brink of collapse. Also visible at bottom are notifications from our spies in Vienna, that the Austrians are organizing fresh armies from their Hungarian holdings. I don't think those will equal in force Browne's army at the start of the campaign, but they will be better commanded, and if given time to fully organize (and they'll get that time over the winter) will be a considerable obstacle.

Our military control map shows that Browne is now entirely cut off from the south:


And in turn the supply network is solid for us in two directions, while Browne is isolated:

We have a good stock at Prague and Lobositz is also starting to build up some reserves, where Wilhelm is still happily building his fortified camp to protect the depot. I am raising garrison regiments at home to take over the duties at Lobositz, Prague, and Koniggratz, which will free about 3 brigades, 9,000 men, to reinforce our main army for the push south.

Now, one issue that I do have is that Katte's cavalry corps has gotten hung up at the fortified camp at Turnau. It's rare for infantry to block movement of cavalry like this, but it can happen. I am growing worried because his supplies are low and winter is here. I need to get the horsemen out and into winter quarters - cavalry like this is precious and needs to be conserved for the balance of the war. So, we're going to attempt a special maneuver here. On the army panel, you have a variety of special orders you can give (related to movement/fighting, to command and organization, and to construction and logistics). I used some of those earlier building the depot and fort at Lobositz, and I used others manipulating Schwerin's army into a component corps of Frederick's army. Now we'll look at the movement and fighting ones:


Starting at the top right and proceeding left to right, top to bottom, we have:

• Enter structure at the end of your move (to go into quarters in a town or fort)
  
• Split units (to reform and reorganize brigades)
  
• Force march (used for extra speed at great cost to cohesion as men straggle and drop out - never use this before battle!)
  
• Sync march (used for corps in the same army to march together - don't want someone to arrive early to the battle and get clobbered without support)
  
• Combine units (to form brigades, generally)
  
• Evade combat (cavalry and irregulars can attempt to slip past enemy units and not provoke a battle)
  

I've ticked evade combat and ordered Katte to try and ride past Browne's force to Prague, whence he can reach Lobositz for winter quarters.

Checking in on Saxony, where we have that lone Austrian brigade roaming around, they abandoned their siege of Leipzig and marched north. I don't know what they plan next:


Zeiten's hussars have cut the roads leading over the passes to the south, so these men aren't getting supply. They may be small enough to live off the land? I'm not sure. Anyway, most the cities here are walled and have solid garrisons, so they shouldn't be able to do too much damage. We'll see what happens over winter, in the spring I may be able to combine some garrison units into a small division to clear 'em out.

Late December orders:

• The Army of the Elbe to march to Prague to hold the line of the river and bar Browne's escape south. (Checking reveals that it is difficult for Browne to cross the river anywhere other than Prague and Koniggratz, and I'm worried about weather exposure away from town).
  
• Cavalry corps to attempt to withdraw to the left bank of the Elbe and reach Lobositz for winter quarters.
  

Resolution is quiet, as Browne marches north to the camp at Turnau, which shouldn't be drawing supply, I think. We lose most of our intelligence on his army:

Our army is snug and safe for the winter in Prague. I think the autumn Bohemian campaign has come to an end at this point.

Okay, so, let's look ahead. First, as promised, what can we do to win this damned war? Rise of Prussia gives us a victory screen:



There are three ways to win the game.

• First, in the red box, is sudden death via National Morale. You lose national morale for losing big battles and key cities, as your people become disillusioned with the conflict and lose fighting spirit. If national morale hits 0, that side surrenders. But national morale naturally regresses towards 100 every turn (you gain a few points or lose a few points each turn), so reaching 0 is extremely difficult. The fall of Prague and the destruction of Lucchese's corps have reduced Austria to 87 morale, while ours after the successful autumn campaign is sky-high at 135. This gives us important benefits to cohesion, meaning we fight harder and recover faster than the Austrians at the moment. Again, think Ukraine vs. Russia right now.
  
• In the orange box are our objective cities. This list will change as the war progresses and participants come and go, but if at any point we control every city on this list, the coalition will sue for peace. Right now we have captured Dresden and Prague since game start, and Hanover/Kassel are neutral but will join us soon. The Austrian cities of Olmutz and Brunn in Moravia and Vienna itself remain to be captured. If we can take them rapidly enough the coalition will break.
  
• Finally, in the green are victory points. At the end of the game in 1764, if we control at least 10 of the 20 cities on the right, and have more victory points than the Austrians, we will be able to negotiate a favorable peace. Otherwise, the war is a draw (or if Austria meets their objectives, a loss!). Each one of these strategic towns generates victory points every turn, which we can spend on decisions like drafting or requisitions, or hoard for the end of the game.
  

So, national morale is supremely difficult to achieve, and waiting until 1764 is a last resort. So the nearest victory objective in each is to capture the cities of Olmutz, Brunn, and Vienna. Here's a look at the land south of Prague, for the first time:



Prague and Koniggratz are the only real fortresses between us and Vienna. South here, there's a few unfortified towns like Tabor, Budweis, and Krems, but no major forts to overcome - we can storm the towns as quickly as we can march to them. Then we'd need to cross the Danube and successfully besiege Vienna, while covering our supply lines back all the way to Prussia. It's a tall order but possible. We also need to send an army into Moravia to secure Brunn and Olmutz to break Austrian will to resist, and while we're at it we may as well secure Troppau, the gateway to Silesia, to cover that invasion route and add an extra line of supply to our thrust at Vienna.

Roughly, here are our options for advance south:

• An advance from Silesia (I, uh, have no field forces there at the moment) or from Koniggratz towards Troppau and Olmutz, moving from there to Brunn. Lots of fortresses to overcome, so this force would likely be allocated most of my heavy artillery and engineers. I may even be able to raise fresh engineer battalions before spring.
  
• A central advance through Iglau towards Vienna. There are some forests to overcome, and a river to be forced, but it is the shortest and most direct route.
  
• A western route to Tabor and Budweis before pushing southeast. More open terrain, slightly longer.
  

We have most of January, February, and possibly march to debate, decide, and prepare. Since Browne's army is in dire straits, we may only face 1-2 corps of Hungarians come spring. Austria will be raising massive new formations but it will take time, and those raw levies won't be able to stand up to veteran grenadiers. But reaching Vienna is a long way, and we aren't getting any major reinforcements - the 4 corps of Keith, Moritz, Ferdinand, and Schwerin are who we've got. As our supply lines lengthen, we might be able to call upon only 2 once we reach the gates of Vienna, if we get so far. However, we have other means of victory. Mauling the Austrian army and securing enough strategic depth will largely neutralize Austria from the war, leaving us free to throw our army against the French or Russians if they decide to get involved. [spoiler]They will.

Let me know any more questions I can answer, or your thoughts on the best course forward for Prussia![/spoiler]

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

January 1757 - Winter diplomacy and a winter offensive

Winter, 1757. Snow settles on the plains of Bohemia. Soldiers shiver on watch beneath their greatcoats, while those lucky enough to enjoy the delights of Prague and Koniggratz stick snugly in their inns and houses. To the north, Browne's beaten army huddles on the slopes in their winter camp at Tirnau, while morale dwindles in step with the food supply:



While the armies are idle, the same does not hold true for King Frederick. From his winter headquarters in the old royal palace in Prague, the king is busy with correspondence and meeting ambassadors from nearly every state in Europe. He claims his invasion of Saxony was purely defensive, to pre-empt the combinations of Maria Theresa against him - but his pleas largely fall on deaf ears. France is stony towards him over the alliance with Great Britain, Russia is outraged over the loss of Saxony, and even the wretched Swedes join the pack of wolves circling Prussia, seeking to regain lost Pomeria and restore some of their glory of the previous century.


The audience hall Frederick relied upon during his stay in Prague, January, 1757

Soon, the bad reports come piling in from around the continent. Russia and the Holy Roman Empire begin to align with Austria - no surprise with the Empire, as the Emperor is Maria Theresa's own husband, but Russia is an admitted disappointment:




The HRE is a minor threat, but a threat nonetheless. The gaggle of city-states and principalities can put together an army roughly equal to Frederick's field force in size - but it is brittle, with no replacements behind it and wretched leadership. Here's how the HRE joining alters the balance of forces in Southern Germany:



Austria has between 150k - 200k men, split into two groups by the successful Prague campaign. If Browne's army can be fully neutralized, they will only have about 70 - 100k to oppose our march south - even numbers, with all experience and leadership on our side. The HRE can muster about 100k to either reinforce the Austrians, though, or even threaten our base in Saxony, which has perhaps 20,000 men in various garrisons and no field forces to speak of.

It's not all bad news, though. Browne is dying from his wound at Prague and the wasting tuberculosis and is no longer fit to command his army. The Wild Goose is replaced by Charles of Lorraine, Maria Theresa's brother in law:


Browne was one of the best soldiers Austria had, and came within an ace of defeating the Prussians in the fall campaign. But Charles is about as useful as a sack of rocks, and of about equal intelligence. Browne's invasion of Lusatia, the main blunder of 1756, came via Maria Theresa - upon Charles' advice. Him in command makes that army much less dangerous.

In fact, word soon reaches us that Browne has succumbed to his wounds at last. The Irish exile was one of Maria Theresa's most reliable supporters, and his loss is probably the gravest blow the Habsburgs have yet suffered in this war. It's all Charles' show now:

Maria Theresa's brother in law, Prince Charles Alexander Emanuel of Lorraine, Marshal of the Empire, sack of rocks.

With limited cavalry patrols available in the winter weather, we lose contact with much of the Austrian force by mid-January:


We can conclude that the main body is in that undetected province just to hte east of Turnau.

I grow a little nervous about Koniggratz, and as the ebony bird points out, we need our army in place there to jump off the spring campaign. So, I form up Schwerin's corps and prepare to designate it the Army of Silesia. With 6 brigades of infantry, 2 mortar batteries, and 2 engineer battalions, it should be a formidable siege and field force:


We will march to Koniggratz and rest up through February, waiting for the turn of the weather in March to launch our offensive. Plans:

• Schwerin will take his siege corps to Koniggratz in a brief winter march. He has February to recover any lost cohesion and supplies. From there he can jump off for Olmutz and Troppau, before marching on Brunn. Moravia will be an alternate supply line for the army at Vienna and secures Silesia against any Austrian attack.
  
• The main army will remain encamped at Prague. When the weather turns, it will march south in two columns to seize the 3 Austrian towns between here and Vienna, reuniting for battle or for the siege of the Austrian capital.
  

Browne's Charles' army is a wild card in this scenario. I don't know how much strength he will retain through the winter snows, and I need to neutralize it before I can push south on Vienna. If the army can be destroyed or crippled, we will be able to push south in full force. Otherwise, I'll need to contain him and concentrate on the Moravian thrust, but can still hope to reach Vienna before winter.

Schwerin's men set off back to Koniggratz after only two weeks' rest in Prague. The weather is fine and sunny but cold, and the Bohemian countryside is lovely. As he nears the city in late January, however, Schwerin is disturbed by reports of Austrian horsemen on his flanks and rear. In fact, soon enough his pickets are driven in and he discovers that a full Austrian cavalry brigade at least is operating near Koniggratz. It's no threat to his army, but his communications with Prague are soon cut behind him - and more seriously, word reaches him that Charles has the army of Bohemia on the move - and it's now encamped across the river from Koniggratz:



So this is a nasty shock. The Austrians have gone on the offensive in the winter, which I obviously did not expect, and Schwerin only just missed getting embroiled in a battle on the way here. He is now isolated from the main army at Koniggratz and could potentially be attacked within the next two weeks.

Because our cavalry is snuggled up for the winter (Schwerin has no organic cavalry in hsi column - I have a cavalry division in quarters in Upper Silesia scheduled to join him in the spring) we don't have great intelligence on the Austrian force. The cavalry brigade cutting the road to Prague has at least 3 battalions of horsemen and an artillery battery, as well as a supply train. To the north is Charles's army, split into 4 columns:

• Charles' column, 6 brigades with supporting artillery and supplies.
  
• Picolomini's column, 3 'units' - Presumably Piccolomini's fresh troops have been stripped to rebuild the other columns.
  
• Kollowrat's column, 7 'units' - unknown strength and composition.
  
• Bohemische Armee, 11 'units' - unknown strength and composition, presumably Browne's old headquarters stack.
  

So, here's my analysis. Schwerin is isolated for at least two weeks. Frederick's army is fresh, rested and reinforced at Prague, but needs to march through the snows to relieve him, if we choose to do so. We know Schwerin masses about 1550 power. He is a better general than Charles, and is in a defensive position behind a river. Charles' army massed about 1700 power at the start of the month, and that was under the much better Browne. The Austrians will have had time to get organized and regrouped after Second Prague, but they've also got to be running low on supplies nad just marched for two weeks in winter weather. An attack would disrupt their cohesion even more.

Bottom line: we have no idea how a battle between Schwerin and Charles would turn out. He might win. He might lose and be driven into siege at Koniggratz - he might be driven into the mountains in the winter and have to slink back to Silesia. Frederick's army is about two weeks away, and needs to march in the snow to relieve him, which I assume we will order. But by what road?



There are dangers but opportunities here in this Habsburg winter offensive. Now we get to see what Charles is made of.  (It's rocks. A literal rock would have been a better Commander in Chief than this loser).

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

1756 in retrospect

I meant to do an evaluation of our accomplishments and objectives during the 'quiet' December - January - February months, but unfortunately the damned Austrians haven't cooperated! Before we depart the Old Palace at Prague for Koniggratz and war, however, let's do that retrospective.

We began the autumn campaign in Saxony and Bohemia with 2 objectives:
1)The seizure of Saxony in order to forestall it joining our enemies, and to make use of its resources for our cause.
2)The capture of Prague, with secondary objectives of crippling as much of the Austrian army as we could to set up an offensive towards Vienna in the spring.

How did we do?

On the Saxony front, Frederick and the army successfully seized Saxony in a coup de main. The Saxon army retreated to Pirna, which we surrounded and forced their surrender by 1 October. Browne and the Bohemische Armee opted to relieve the Saxons indirectly, by invading Lusatia, leaving Lucchese and Piccolomini to cover their communications. That, however, left the road open to Prague despite Piccolomini's ineffective attempts to cover the city, and in October we were able to drive into Bohemia, drive away Piccolomini, and place the city under siege. Browne was forced to lift his siege of Bautzen in Lusatia and hurry southwards to relieve the threat to his communications, but was defeated in the hard-fought Second Battle of Prague in late November.

Historical corner: The actual 1756

In reality, our timeline closely mirrored the DSL timeline through October 1, 1756. The Austrians were caught off-guard by Frederick's invasion, but Maria Theresa sent her old reliable Browne north with a hastily assembled army to relieve Pirna and forestall Frederick. Charles of Lorraine, because he is a useless sack of rocks, advocated for invading Lusatia or even Silesia, but Browne instead corresponded with the Elector of Saxony and moved to relieve him, marching up the Elbe as far as Lobositz by the beginning of October. There, he laid an ambush for Frederick's army.



The battle of Lobositz was a bloody tactical draw, each side losing about 3,000 men. But Browne, having achieved his goal of bloodying the Prussians' nose (and the more numerous, less professional Austrians were far more able to bear the losses than Frederick was), withdrew from the field. Frederick (who had abandoned the battle himself when things looked sticky early in the afternoon) hastily claimed it as a glorious victory, but in actuality Browne side-slipped across the Elbe and marched up towards Pirna on the right bank. But the cowardly Saxon Elector surrendered on the 16th anyway, and the entire Saxon army passed into the Prussian camp (whence they would promptly desert, but no matter). However, the campaign convinced Frederick not to risk a winter siege of Prague with the Austrian army there, and so he withdrew to Dresden for the winter.

Meanwhile, von Schwerin led the army of Silesia over the mountains to Koniggratz, placing that city under siege. Koniggratz fell after a month-long siege in mid-November, and then Schwerin worked to cooperate with Frederick's army, trapping Lucchese's battered corps between them after Second Prague. The battle of Kolin saw Lucchese's entire corps surrounded and captured, removing roughly 1/4 of the Austrian order of battle from the rolls, and Koniggratz was added as an important base for Prussia (and cutting Browne's last supply link home).

Both sides then went into winter quarters following the Battle of Kolin.

Historical corner: The campaign in eastern Bohemia
In the actual timeline, with Browne covering Frederick, Piccolomini felt free to move to confront von Schwerin instead of being trapped between Prague and Koniggratz as in DSL's timeline, unable to decide which one to defend. With his army matching von Schwerin's in size, Piccolomini encamped around Koniggratz and defended the city, though he sat passive before Prussian raiding and pillaging, for which Browne severely criticized him. Unable to besiege the city with Piccolomini's army covering it, von Schwerin withdrew over the mountains without a battle and wintered in Silesia.

All told, we captured 4 fortified places (Dresden, Pirna, Koniggratz, and Prague), losing 12,000 men in battle but killing or disabling 28,500 Austrians in return. In addition, we captured 9500 more (mostly from Lucchese's corps) for a more 3:1 casualty ratio in our favor. That's not counting hte men Austria is losing to attrition from Charles' army, exposed to winter weather and without supplies. In short, we did very well. But there are lots of Austrians remaining, and they CAN rebuild their army and they WILL. We have to exploit our advantage while we have it, dispatch Charles, and try to cripple the remainder - Austria doesn't have limitless men and if its second army can be destroyed, we will be able to go over to the defensive on this front and concentrate on France or Russia, even if we fail to capture Vienna.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Charles of Lorraine wasn't a sack of rocks for his whole life!   His problem right now is that you're playing Rise of Prussia, not Austrian Netherlands Governor Simulator.  (If that game existed, the Germans would buy it.)


It's nice to see the historical battles compared with your timeline.  I'd be lost without them since the divergences are more subtle than in Crusader Kings.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

February 1757: Winter Maneuvers

So, at the end of February Frederick is rudely jolted from his winter quarters in Prague when a tired rider on a blown horse rides in from the east. The man has only just barely dodged Austrian hussar patrols on the road to carry word that Prince Charles is on the move - the Bohemische Armee is encamped along the Elbe across from Koniggratz, where Schwerin is defending the crossings, and an Austrian cavalry brigade or division has cut the road between Koniggratz and Prague.

I eventually decide to march the army up the left bank of the Elbe, while Katte's cavalry, recovering from their autumn rides at the Lobositz depot, cross the river at Prague and cover the northern side:


There are several reasons I decide on the south bank.

• Speed. Crossing the river, even at Prague, slows us down, and due to winter gales it looks like it will take 30 days to reach Koniggratz! Schwerin made the same march in 15 days. The Kaiserstrasse highway, the ancient royal road of the Habsburgs, runs along the south bank to Koniggratz and offers excellent lateral communications to our army - nothing comparable is to be found on the north bank. We want to reach Schwerin with all possible speed.
  
• Defense. I'm worried about Charles attempting to slip the net and escape to the south, where he can join up with reinforcements and begin to rebuild his army. If we move north and he crosses the river south of Koniggratz, linking up with that cavalry column, he could escape us entirely as we're delayed recrossing.
  

So, we march on the south. If Charles attempts to cross the river, we should intercept him and force a favorable battle. If he assaults Schwerin, our marshal will have a fair chance of defending himself with the Elbe as a barrier and can fall back into Koniggratz safely, while we will be approaching on the safest road. If Charles attempts to slip back to Prague on the north bank, he'll encounter our cavalry and we will be able to keep ahead of him to the crossings due to the Kaiserstrasse.

Now, let me dive a bit more into commanders. In addition to stats, they have traits which modify how they behave in battle in certain ways. Some generals, for example, let their men lollygag on the march - they lose more cohesion when moving. Others are experts in supply, some are easily angered and don't get along well with their subordinates, etc. There's a reason Frederick is so feared by the Austrians, and it's not his 6-4-3 stats (Keith, for example, with his 5-6-6 stats is a better raw leader!).

Frederick is a genius:

Certain men like Lee, Napoleon, and Frederick get this trait, which gives a bevy of bonuses. You need to dive into the unit detail card to find out (I haven't shown that, but you can explore individual units with a variety of traits - their cohesion, speed, firepower, defensiveness, supply usage, battle frontage, etc. It mostly doesn't matter since the battle engine does a good job of simulating sensible results. Armies of all cavalry falter before infantry, you want light infantry in rough terrain like thick woods or forests, etc, grenadiers are more fearsome in the assault than militia, cannon open fire at longer ranges than muskets, etc). Here's all the traits Frederick gets:



All told, Frederick marches 15% faster, in battle his men have higher total cohesion and recover it faster, have a 10% boost to their firepower and are more resistant to cavalry, he has a higher command limit (meaning he can lead larger armies than others), and can use more men in the attack than typical frontage would allow (so more Prussians get into the fight if he's on the attack, letting him beat larger armies due to frontage rules) - BUT Frederick is also reckless and will be slow to retreat, dangerous if he ever gets into an unequal fight.

Anyway, der Grose gets his men tumbled out of their snug houses and taverns in Prague and its suburbs and the soldaten stumble into line, marching off into the teeth of winter gales to rescue Schwerin. As they march rapidly across Bohemia, spies and scouts bring words that Charles is ranging along the Elbe, seizing every raft and ferry he can get his hands on, and that the Bohemische Armee intends to cross the river below Koniggratz and escape to the south. Frederick acts quickly to send patrols up and down the banks even as the army continues to barrel towards Koniggratz. By February 14 the situation stands thus:


Frederick and his 3 corps commanders Keith, Ferdinand, and Moritz are spread out near Kolin, still marching east. Schwerin has maintained the line of the Elbe, while Charles began a river crossing from Chlumnetz towards Kolin, while building yet another fortified camp (the fourth, I believe, Austria has thrown up since the start of the war). The cavalry brigade has withdrawn south to Tschaslau.

Okay, what to do here? The situation is a bit complicated. To strike over the river at Charles means eating the river crossing penalty, which I don't want. We also have much better intelligence on the composition and present status of the Bohemische Armee, and it's not in great shape:


Charles has been shuffling the exact makeup of his formations, but the army totals about 2300 power (up from 1700 earlier - resting and reorganizing after the battle of Prague). That might seem like a lot, but Keith, Ferdinand, and Schwerin each rate about 2500 power in their corps, and Frederick and Moritz have about another 1000 each in the headquarters and reserve corps.

To the north, Leopold von Daun, probably the best Austrian general now that Browne is dead, has been relegated to commanding a single cavalry brigade. It's a grotesque waste of his talents (the man is even a three star general, the only rank able to command an army!), but I won't complain about Charles' petty jealousy sidelining our most dangerous opponent.

Before returning to hte main front, I also notice that the rogue Austrian brigade in Saxony has vanished from the map:

I should have excellent intelligence in Saxony, so I'm curious where they've wandered off to. I don't think they will have deserted entirely through lack of supply, but it's possible! We can hope!

The reason von Daun and Charles' armies are so weak is their terrible supply situation. Flipping on the supply filter, we see both armies showing red dots:


They have been cut off from resupply for about 2 months now, nearly 3, but possibly those wagons the cavalry brough north were able to throw some across the Elbe in the short days they had before Frederick's advent. Our own supply situation is excellent:


From the start of February - note the massive stockpiles in Prague and the steady flow of supplies from Silesia to Koniggratz, when the weather allows the passes to be open.

Regardless, the Bohemische Armee is now only about 25% as strong as the Prussian Elbe Armee, and I aim to keep it that way. We won't risk a bloody battle over the river if we dont' have to. I want to see if Charles carries through his crossing, so I lay in the following orders.

• Frederick and Keith to link up with Schwerin and defend the Elbe near Pardubitz.
  
• Ferdinand to defend the Elbe crossings near Kolin.
  
• Moritz's reserve corps to drive off the cavalry force near Tschaslau.
  
• Katte's cavalry to sweep in the rear of Charles, gather intelligence, disrupt his operations, and rejoin the main army near Pardubitz.
  

My hope is that Charles will continue his crossing of the Elbe at Kolin and precipitate an offensive battle against my full army. Moritz will push any succor further to the south, and Frederick and Keith will be centrally located to lend support in any direction. Charles will face either Schwerin (who has had weeks now to entrench) with Frederick and Keith backing him up or the full weight of Frederick, Keith, Ferdinand, and Moritz if he strikes anywhere else.

Other news from abroad before we lay in the orders, the British are succeeding in India:

Bully for them. So glad they can exploit Prussia's fight for survival to lift distant colonies off the French.

More usefully, though, Parliament votes to send an "Army of Observation" to Hanover:


Remember, King George II was Hanover-born and raised. He speaks English with a German accent, not German with an English accent. He will care strongly about the fate of his homeland and we can expect Hanoverian-English troops to fight just as hard as Prussians in defense of their homes.

On February 18, in a driving rainstorm that ruins visibility and makes the soldaten miserable, Moritz's reserve corps encounters the rearguard of the Austrian cavalry brigade under Charles d'Arberg:


d'Arberg escapes with the loss of 2 companies of hussars, about 1200 men total. Moritz loses 600 in the little skirmish - the wretched weather, d'Arberg's relatively large mounted arm, and his hasty retreat prevent heavier losses for the Austrians.

With the early mid-February thaw, von Zeitzen leads his hussar division out of Saxony and begins a deep reconnaissance of southern Bohemia. He actually seizes the undefended town of Budweis and scouts out the Austrian garrison brigade at the nearby town of Tabor:


Otherwise, though, late February is quiet. von Daun abandons the camp at Ternau and, leading an all-cavalry force, is able to cross the Elbe at Pirna and seems to swing south towards Lobositz. Prussian reservists are now marching to take over garrison duties along the front, freeing 3 brigades for employment in the field. Charles completes his new fortified camp at Chlumetz and forts up tight. The rest and reorganization does his tattered army some good, its power rising into the low 3000s, but he is still cut off from resupply, winter has lifted, and Frederick's army is in contact:


So, gentlemen, March is upon us, and it seems an early spring. Our goals for this year are the capture of Vienna, Brunn, and Olmutz and a victorious conclusion to the war. Failing that, we need to do the Austrians enough damage that they can't mount any serious threats to Saxony or Silesia through 1758, at least. Maria Theresa's new units will be getting organized around now, Hungarians and Croats and fresh infusions of men from the Austrian Netherlands, but I don't think we should face anything as strong as the Bohemische Armee was on October 1, 1756.

Our options are to attack Charles with all our force, or to await his attack with all our force, counting on his dwindling supplies to drive him to desperation. We could also attack with part and detach Schwerin to begin the Moravian invasion, or mask Charles with a corps and begin the drive south with the others. What plan would be best?

Overview of the front:

[chumchu]

Thanks for the great write-up. It makes me really want to try the game.

Also play Friedrich again. It is such a tense game: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12891/friedrich

[Brian Shanahan]

Interesting playthrough, thanks.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

March 1757: The end of the Army of Bohemia

Reminder of the situation on the front, March 1:

Sadly this is the last month that we can contain the front in a single image.

After much deliberation, the council agrees that an aggressive move to finish off Charles' army once and for all is called for. The resultant attack orders are somewhat complex:

• Keith's Corps with Frederick in reserve to cross the Elbe and attack the enemy wherever he may be found.
  
• Ferdinand to cross the Elbe west of Keith and cut off the enemy escape to the west, lending support where necessary.
  
• Moritz to countermarch and rejoin the main army.
  
• Schwerin to remain in place at Koniggratz. This will enable him to lend support to the attack if it runs into trouble, without having him cross the river and drawing him away from Troppau. If all goes well, later in the month Schwerin will once more become the Army of Silesia and will march on Olmutz-Troppau.
  
• Katte's cavalry to sweep around the enemy left and cut off his retreat to the north.
  

My intention with these many tentacles spreading out is to cut off the enemy retreat and re-enact the destruction of Lucchese corps, but on a larger scale. All the units are in mutual supporting distance and there is no chance of being engaged in detail. The only downside is all this marching is beginning to wear on the men - Moritz in particular has marched further and fought a battle in the last two months than anyone else.

The counteroffensive kicks off well. Ferdinand is slow crossing the Elbe near Kolin, but since he's in a supporting role that doesn't matter much. Prussians cross the Elbe in small boats and pontoons (missing their engineer battalions, transferred to the Army of Silesia for the Moravian campaign :/) and quickly reform on the north bank. They press north and discover the Austrian camp at Chemnitz abandoned, the enemy once again racing for the mountains to the north. Could he even be returning to the winter encampment at Turnau?

The weather in Bohemia in early spring is still wretched, as sheeting rainstorms come and go. In the thick precipitation on March 7, Keith comes upon the Austrian rearguard, commanded by the doughty old Kollowrat. After a sharp skirmish, the Austrians succeed in disengaging:


Losses are about equal on both sides, but most significantly, interrogation of prisoners after the battle reveals that only about 70% of Kollowrat's men were supplied! The long starvation winter has had an effect, and Keith agrees with his brigadiers that, had the Austrians stood and fought rather than retreating so quickly, they would have received a severe drubbing.

The little battle at Chemnitz hardly merits the name, but the opening two weeks of the operation go mostly smoothly. The enemy evaded battle to the north, but the Prussians are safely over the river and in hot pursuit:


Note the late snow in Bohemia. It helps us - snow causes units to burn supply or else take hits. We are in abundance, the Austrians are running on fumes, and that snow means severe losses.

Bad news from abroad:

The French war in North America isn't going so well, which matters to us not a whit (I guess it may sap their enthusiasm for the war in Germany? We can but hope and pray). More gravely, Sweden has declared war, opening yet another front. They hold two bases on the southern coast of the Baltic, for which we have plans that I'll get to in April.

Inspection of the front reveals that the Bohemische Armee is at bay:

About 2000 power remaining - down 33% in just a few weeks of marching. Our battle didn't do that to them, their collapsing supplies did. Furthermore, you can see things like Perony's "brigade" rates a mere 2 power at the moment. Piccolomini has 10 units under his command but only manages 73 power. This is a brittle force, and just a little push will shatter it.

Their supplies are ghastly:


With that in mind, we will continue the pursuit and hopefully bring about a decisive battle (sorry the orders are in supply view, I forgot to switch it off):

The flanking corps continue their efforts to cut off the Austrians, while Keith continues the main offensive duties. Moritz continues to regroup (I should have rested him, in retrospect). Schwerin is free to cut loose and, winter weather or no, begin the Moravian campaign. His supplies are good enough and he'll be close enough to home bases that he can manage the snow march.

Frederick's proud legions march on. The weather is ghastly and stragglers drop by the side of the road, unable to keep the pace as Frederick urges his soldaten on, on on! The king is everywhere, riding up and down the columns strung across the northern Bohemian plain, inspiring his men to ever-greater efforts. Morale is high: they know that they are wolves, and that the prey is near. On March 19 they catch up to Charles:



The Battle of Jitschen, fought in driving snow, isn't so much a stand-up battle as a running series of skirmishes. The Prussian battalions come up on the Austrian rearguard attempting to defend a series of ridges. But the men are weak, lean and hungry. Many wear little more than rags, shivering in the cold. Each position is stormed in turn, the men holding it shattering and fleeing for the hills rather than retreating in good order, in most cases. Here and there fire lashes at the Prussian pursuers, a strongpoint holds them up for a half-hour or more - but each time the pursuing blue tide laps around them, cavalry flows like water through the valleys below, and the pursuit is on again. The result is a smashingly one-sided victory:


1000 Prussian casualties in exchange for nearly 7,000 Austrians, 1200 horses, and 34 guns. Note some other things: The Austrian strength, which is on paper greater than Frederick's army (276 elements to his 233), is only 26,000 men total - in other words, most of those elements have less than 100 men left in them! Thus the limited number of casualties leads to devastating losses of 51 units, over 20% of the Bohemische Armee's order of battle just straight wiped out. Austrian supply is down to 40% of units having any supply at all.

Worse of all for the Austrians, with the destruction of their rearguard, Katte's cavalry corps, which ahs been in contact with these men more or less continuously since last September, is finally unleashed. Look at the lower right of this collection of news:

After losing a battle, the side that retreats takes a few more hits in the pursuit. The amount is mostly determined by the amount of light cavalry present on the pursuing side, weighed against the number of formed units remaining and the total cavalry on the defeated side. With the Austrians having few organized units left, and losing more than a third of its remaining cavalry in particular, all while Katte's large cavalry corps swoops down, the results are horrific for the fleeing Charles: he takes nearly 70 hits in the pursuit. The battle only inflicted 40 hits on him! If we extrapolate, the Austrians should have suffered further losses of 12,000 men and 90 more elements. That's not entirely a reliable estimate, but it's possible that there's only about 8,000 men in 130 elements left in the once-proud Bohemische army.

The other news is more mixed. France has begun to dispatch troops towards Hanover, which is likely to enter the war soon on our side. We've also raised some new light infantry battalions after Frederick saw how useful they were at Second Prague, but I intend to employ them on the Pomeranian front, not in Austria. Finally, Pitt, our old ally in Parliament, has been dismissed. We have to pray that English support remains firm for our cause - without their subsidies and their allied troops, Prussia alone will soon be overwhelmed.

By April 1, after 10 days of pursuit following Jitschen, the situation in Bohemia stands thus:

His retreat cut off, Charles attempts to flee back past Moritz. Moritz has been pushed too hard - 2 months of continuous marching and fighting has worn his men ragged, and his cohesion is basically nil, thus he hasn't immediately stopped Charles' columns. The rest of the army has had more rest, and their commanders have bonuses to cohesion recovery, so they're in better shape.

In Moravia, Schwerin's army is nearing Olmutz, its first objective:

The Austrian force is I suspect d'Arenburg's cavalry brigade, intending on raiding Silesia.

Speaking of, Zeiten's hussars have boldly ridden to within sight of the spires of Vienna itself:


The garrison is about 1000 power strong, and Morocz's Hungarians number about 1500 power - probably about 4 brigades, maybe 11,000 men. Against that, Frederick's army is about 7000 power strong, totaling 60,000 men.

New fronts are opening. Along the Rhine, the first French units are in sight, marching towards our ally George II's childhood home of Hanover:

Hanover and Hesse-Kassel join the war on our side. This vast Western Front is going to merit a deeper look later, but the gist is that there's a road over the north German plain to Magdeburg, the gateway to Berlin - but it's protected by a number of fortified cities and the Hanoverian army. There is a central road from the upper Rhine through Hesse, but it's narrow and lined with forests, fairly defensible. Finally, a southern road runs to the Danube and links up with Bavaria and Austria. I'll detail my plans on this front, but suffice to say Hanover and Hesse's army is no match for the French. They can, at best, delay them, but will probably need Prussian reinforcements to have a hope of winning a decisive victory on this front.

Final overview of the situation in Bohemia on April 1, 1757:


I think at this point we can consider the Bohemische Armee a spent force. Our own army is tired more from the marching than from the fighting, but could use a few weeks of R&R before it's really back in full fighting trim. However, it seems the Imperial army hasn't joined up with Austria yet, and Maria Theresa only has one modest Hungarian corps between us and her capital. We have excellent prospects to really hurt Austria before the French (and Swedes, and Russians...) get spun up.